CHI Franciscan Health's plans to close the rehabilitation department at Tacoma, Wash.-based St. Joseph Medical Center and build a new freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospital in the community will affect 71 employees, according to a notice from the Washington Department of Employment Security.
The health system, also in Tacoma, announced in July 2017 it broke ground on the new $25 million rehabilitation facility. CHI Franciscan Health is partnering with Louisville, Ky.-based Kindred Healthcare for the project, which includes 60 beds and will offer specialized treatment programs for patients recovering from stroke, brain injury, neurological conditions, trauma, spinal cord injury, amputation and orthopedic injury, according to CHI Franciscan Health.
Cary Evans, vice president of communications and government affairs at CHI Franciscan Health, told Becker's Hospital Review in a statement: "Patients and our caregivers are at the center of everything we do" amid these efforts to expand access to post-acute rehabilitation care.
He said affected employees at St. Joseph have the opportunity to move to the new hospital or somewhere else within CHI Franciscan Health.
"There are currently 808 open positions within CHI Franciscan. Fair severance packages are available to eligible employees," his statement reads.
The new facility is expected to open in late spring or early summer.
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